Official: 39 dead in fire at migrant facility in Mexico

Injured people have been taken to four hospitals, according to the newspaper.Neither Mexicos National Immigration Institute nor the Chihuahua state prosecutors office responded immediately Tuesday to requests for confirmation.Ciudad Juarez is a major crossing point for migrants entering the United States.

An official with the National Immigration Institute say 39 people died and 29 were injured in a fire in an immigration detention facility in northern Mexico.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly about the case.

At least three dozen migrants have died in a fire at an immigration detention centre in northern Mexico near the U.S. border, according to a newspaper report.

Images from the scene showed rows of bodies lying under shimmery silver sheets outside the facility in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas. Ambulances, firefighters and vans from the morgue could also be seen.

The Diario de Juarez newspaper, which cited unnamed sources in the Chihuahua state prosecutor's office, said 39 people died in the fire, which broke out late Monday. Injured people have been taken to four hospitals, according to the newspaper.

Neither Mexico's National Immigration Institute nor the Chihuahua state prosecutor's office responded immediately Tuesday to requests for confirmation.

Ciudad Juarez is a major crossing point for migrants entering the United States. Its shelters are full of migrants waiting for opportunities to cross or who have requested asylum in the United States and are waiting out the process.

Mexico's attorney general's office has launched an inquiry and has investigators at the scene, according to media reports.